Sunday, April 24, 2016

To Be or Not To Be...or to Always Be

“To be…or not to be”, those infamous words spoken by the
befuddled prince of plays, weigh the pros and cons of living vs. dying;.
Here’s a translation of Hamlet's famed soliloquy from the Shakespeare:-)
to remind you.

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“The question is: is it better to be alive or dead? Is it
nobler to put up with all the nasty things that luck throws your way, or to
fight against all those troubles by simply putting an end to them once and for
all? Dying, sleeping—that’s all dying is—a sleep that ends all the heartache and
shocks that life on earth gives us—that’s an achievement to wish for. To die,
to sleep—to sleep, maybe to dream. Ah, but there’s the catch: in death’s sleep
who knows what kind of dreams might come, after we’ve put the noise and
commotion of life behind us. That’s certainly something to worry about. That’s
the consideration that makes us stretch out our sufferings so long.”

Shakespeare’s insight into death and dreaming in these
famous lines is uncanny. Hamlet is caught up in the dualism that plagues patriarchal
paradigms, you’re either this or that, dead or alive. Today, the doors of
consciousness and inner space are blown wide open by gifted pioneers in every
science and spirituality; the paradigms that bound our patriarchal ancestors don’t bind us now, unless we choose to be bound. Belief in our
time doesn't require "blind faith." Once when Carl Jung, that great pioneer of psyche, was asked
about his belief in God, he replied, "Believe? I don't believe. I
know."

How did he know? Through direct experience of his own
consciousness outside the body, through dreaming, visions and his signature
contribution, synchronicity.He was
raised a minister’s son and became a doctor in the pioneer field of psychology,
as ruled then by Sigmund Freud.He
rebelled against SF’s materialistic dogma about the human psyche and spoke of
the soul. Robert Moss dubs him a shaman of the west, or as Jung himself jested,
he was a witch doctor for Europeans.

Since Jung, many have continued to explore the inner realms,
and many have come full circle, to acknowledge that much of what we’re
discovering, we’re re-discovering. History is
the story as told by the conqueror and the conquerors were very, very wrong. Many ancient and indigenous cultures were treated as primitive, savage, tribal, uncivilized, heathen and ungodly by white,
patriarchal, western European "civilizations" who believed bloody conquest was their God given right, as they fought for Him.

Think of the bloodshed and cruelties in the name of righteous
religions that still rain on the faithful and unfaithful alike.Religious laws, strictures and competing
divinities are responsible for such an unnatural percentage of the world’s pain
that we ought to stop and think more about what we really want from our religions.If it’s love and peace, religion might not be
your best bet.The us vs. them mentality
that won’t back down and needs to win at all costs makes the human experience
into a football match.Ancient earth
religions offered a much deeper spirituality, All is One. The divine which we
call by different names can be experienced personally in dreams, visions,
meditation and in nature.Consciousness
or soul or whatever we end up calling it, doesn’t die and may visit this earth
plane many times, by choice, perhaps with some passion to fulfill.

The consciousness revolution of our time points to a new
awareness of reality that is completely organic.It’s like having a belly button to the inside
where the cord is never cut.There is no
free fall forever. Gruesome as death can be in the physical, (birth is also an
immense physical challenge), across the bridge of death, the gates of Love are
open and we’re greeted and seen as we most need to be.

This isn’t faith, this is the story told by innumerable
women and men, in all walks of life, around the world, who’ve crossed the
boundaries in some way.The growing
literature being produced by respected professionals in the fields of
psychology and medicine, as well as by first-hand "experiencers" of near death,
out of body travels, dreaming and after death communication leaves doubt of
after death survival to only the most entrenched.

The implication for Hamlet, for instance, might then be that
suicide or not, he will still have to deal with the circumstances and choices
that are hanging him up, in the physical or in any dimension that follows the
physical. He might just want to be a regular guy, party with Horatio and
marry Ophelia, but no, here’s his father’s ghost demanding revenge and telling
him way more than he really wants to know.So, he’s stuck thinking only he can solve this problem and that his only
choice is to give up all his joy and fulfill what’s expected of him.

Let’s take Hamlet out of his torment and put him in a
parallel universe, perhaps in the present, where his choice is much
broader.We live forever, Hamlet; your
father and his brother will eventually face each other, so help your father
find his way on the other side and ask yourself: what have I come to do in this
life? Where is my joy? If my joy is in justice, then I will fight for it openly and
call to account whom I choose. Joy isn’t always a belly laugh, it’s however it
feels to be completely centered in your own being and purpose, sure of the
great beyond without the wagging fingers of “god-betweens”.

To be, to really, really be…as much as I can, as loving as I
can, with gentleness and kindness for all, is the quest that brought my soul to
this plane of existence.To each, his or
her own quest, but all quests lead to Home and dreaming is a sure road back and
forth, a gift to explore.Religion asks
you to follow blindly.Your dreams offer
you experience of “spiritual” realities before you cross into them again at
death.If you fear your dreams, a common
experience in our toxic psychic and physical environments, there are many ways
to find your way back in them.

The question of our times is not to be or not to be.It’s what should I do while I’m still here? What
made me want to come here in the first place?What do I want to take with me?What can I do better? What will make me
happiest as I look back on my life? What do I want to happen in the thought
responsive realms I will be living in next? What do I want to happen here? What matters most to me?

3 comments:

I took some time to ponder your question; in my dream of this election, Trump is America's collective shadow projection. Why is it a school yard bully? What must we do to change this dream? Hugs, Trish.

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By Way of Introduction

I've had an active relationship to my dream life for over 30 years. I've experienced how they've helped me, comforted me, disabused me of illusions, scared the pajamas off me and lent me strength.
I've been blessed with many great guides and teachers on both sides of the dream gates. One of my favorite contemporary waking life teachers is Robert Moss, whose work is a wonderful resource for dream explorers. I studied with Robert for a number of years; the video company I own with Jim Cookman, Psyche Productions, produced an eight program DVD series, "The Way of the Dreamer with Robert Moss" in which he teaches his Active Dreaming method. (www.psycheproductions.net or Amazon.)
My undergraduate degree is in literature from the U of Rochester; I also have graduate training in psychotherapy and spiritual counseling. For over twenty years, I've taught dream play to a variety of groups of all ages. I'm sharing my thoughts with you on this blog in the hopes that it helps you establish your own dream dialogue.